Kenda had made time in the morning to join Joe in seeing the ship that would take him north and meeting the vessel’s captain. Both Earcellwen and Hah’roo met the pair on the way to the docks. Yuk might join them or not. Joe could never tell what his disjoined roommate would get excited by. Seeing the ship for the first time could be a huge thing or not worth his time.
Regardless, Joe and the three women with him were very interested in meeting Ginjgaukk and seeing the cutter named the Jacky Jabaru. Joe knew that a jibaru was a bird found on both worlds, but he had to be told by Hah’roo that ‘jacky’ was a term for gin.
As they approached the pier, the Jabaru came into view. Joe had seen this sleek vessel before, its violet sails always catching his eye. Even with the sails currently reefed, the distinctive purple hue was unmistakable, a unique feature of the ship.
The vessel was single-masted. When he had seen it at full sail, Joe recalled it flew not one but two headsails in addition to the mainsail. The hull was painted a deep green that contrasted with the bright blue waters of the bay but would blend into the darker waters of the deep ocean.
She was of middling size when it came to similar ships. The other sloop-style vessels Joe had seen could be as small as twenty-five feet in length, and on the larger end, he had watched some over sixty feet long sail into Fort Coral. The Jacky Jabaru was around fifty feet from bow to stern.
Having spent the last four months watching vessels sail past the Haven every day, Joe assumed that the boat would ideally have a crew of at least four, probably five or six. This would mean a pilot, a pair of riggers, and a gunner, with one or two more to swap out shifts, as well as to handle tasks such as navigation, maintenance, and cooking.
For defense, she had two alchemical cannons mounted on her bow. These creations were roughly as powerful as 18th-century Earth ship cannons but considerably smaller. Myllo had explained much about how Illuminaria artillery guns worked when Joe asked about the Taylyn-powered railgun they had used on the giant storm crab. Gravity magic replaced the huge frames and massive barrel-weight Earth cannons needed to manage the gunpowder’s kickback. Hurled projectiles, like Earth cannons, were some of the most common designs using Force magic to replace black powder. Disintegration, Ice, and Lightning guns were also favored options.
As he approached the craft, he noticed a muscular man and equally brawny woman heft a crate off the wharf and carry it aboard the Jabaru. The crates were all stamped with Dorian’s shipping-mark for the Barbarrow Counting House. The symbol was a black top hat with a stylized ‘B’ just above the ribbon. Even from halfway down the pier, Joe’s perceptive nose could pick up the scents of coffee, cured meats, molasses, and cheese.
The man was another bugbear, like Nalloraak. It was a race Joe had noticed that was fairly common to Fort Coral. Bugbears and korrigan, like Myllo, were mortals with fey ancestries, similar to Joe’s bequeathed changeling roots. As this land had once entirely belonged to the fey, it made sense that plenty of its residents had connections to those old bloodlines.
The woman was an aresa. She was tattooed from head to hoof. Her arms were densely sleeved with ink. So was her goat-like muzzle. The jagged tribal tattoo across the bridge of her nose and down her cheeks made her look especially savage. The fact that one of her curling horns had been snapped off added to her fierce countenance.
“Hey, Boss,” the bugbear bellowed in a deep, growling voice. “They’re here.”
“Right on time,” hissed someone cheerily from the deck, out of their line of sight. The hidden man must be Captain Ginjgaukk. Again, Joe’s nose gave him hints. To him, the man had the dry lizard-like aroma of a saurian, but there was another scent, too: a molten smell. Joe recalled where he had encountered that combination before: the draconian ambassador of Cazmaloq, Kinim Skoalinon. The dragonman was the one who had tried to start trouble with Hah’roo during the planning for the Cauldrakon Event. Joe hoped that this would not be a repeat. After the bitchy elven knight, he was not in the mood for any more bigotry.
Captain Ginjgaukk hopped onto the gunwale and leered down at the group with a tremendous number of sharp, pointy teeth. The diminutive saurian-like sailor stood only a little higher than Joe’s waist with scales the same color as the sails of his ship. He wore baggy pants with a saber that seemed too large for him. Above a ruffled shirt and vest, the ensemble was topped off by the most ridiculously huge tri-cornered hat the small seafarer could possibly get away with.
His features were clearly more draconic than saurian; his enormous toothy smirk was longer than Joe’s forearm. The only non-draconic feature Ginjgaukk possessed was a long rat-like tail that flicked around behind the man.
“Well, well, well. Aren’t you just the luckiest bugger in the Fort,” the scaly captain cackled to Joe. “Not one or two, but three lovely lasses at yer side. A man to be envied, fer sure. Here I’ve got just the one, and she be a raving banshee who’d tear me in two long before she spare me a kiss.”
“Damn right, Rat,” the arsea growled as she carried a crate of what smelled like dried fruit onto the vessel with the bugbear.
“Dat’s Boss Rat to you, ya slip-footed goat,” the small skipper shouted back before addressing the group again. “Now, normally, we’d try and put our best face forward with new clients and all, but since yer all gonna be bunkin’ with us for the next moon or two, I figured ya best get ta see what yer in for.”
“All good, Captain,” Joe replied. “We give each other grief regularly as well.”
“I’m betting ye get the brunt of it, don’t cha, me boy. Pretty girls can get away with so much more than us lowly men.”
Joe found himself warming quickly to the sinister-looking little dragon. “You know, you’re right. They do, don’t they.”
“Wise boy. Wise boy. Alright, let’s get introductions out o’ the way. Everybody assess away, free o’ umbrage.”
The two crewmen stepped back into sight, and Joe felt three assessments attempt to discern his obscured attributes. He examined them as well, before making apologies.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Ginjgaukk Mauk: Dragonkin (Kobold): Mariner/Corsair 21
Bosko Haeredion: Fey (Bugbear): Brawler/Rover 13
Kkeemi Salt-Scar: Aresa: Sailor/Cannoneer 14
“Sorry, everyone,” Joe announced. “I have a trait that I can’t turn off, which blocks assessments. To keep things up-front, I’m healer and druid, level twenty-two.”
“You all pack a punch, don’t ya? Three in yer twenties and the last one still got some levels on me crew. Bosko, here is me first mate. Screaming Kkeemi there will be our gunner. I had two hands for the last month that I was happy ta see the backsides of. Dorian said you were not aversed to pullin’ yer weight aboard. Hope that be true, 'cause otherwise, we’ll need to replace those lazy louts.”
“I am very familiar with ships,” Hah’roo breathed. To which Joe thought, ‘Of course she is. Wind, knots, and freedom. And it’s Hah’roo. What isn't she good at?’
The huntress continued, “We will help as you need us to, though the four here are not exactly the four joining you.”
“Eh,” squeaked Ginjgaukk, peering down at Hah’roo.
“I’m not going,” Kendell said sadly. “The last member is not here, but they’ll be prepared for whenever you are ready to set sail.”
“Well, it's a good thing I didn’t say ‘Right dis minute,’ then, huh? That woulda been awkward,” the kobold snickered, winking at Kenda. “Too bad. Yer loss dilutes our beauteous quotient by a third since we sea-mutts and the hairy healer here just ain’t in the same gilded bucket. Is the missing fourth a knockout to replace you?”
The four friends looked at each other and couldn’t help but chuckle amongst themselves. Yuk was a sweetheart, but ‘beautiful’ was not a word anyone would use to describe them—unless maybe you were an entomologist.
“You’ll have to make that call yourself, sir,” Earcellwen replied, elbowing Kenda, who couldn't stop giggling.
“Then how’z about the morning tide, if that be good with you all? The ship be yours, so ye can delay if’n yah want, but we got a spell a good weather in front o’ us. Be a shame to waste it.”
Hah’roo effortlessly bound up onto the deck beside the captain, riding the winds that obeyed her will. Taking her cue, the other three headed for the gangplank. They all wanted to see what they were getting into before they locked the trip down. Joe was pretty sure he could easily make the jump, too, but his bound would not have been nearly as graceful-looking as the rope-dancer’s was.
The short sailor watched the galeling land and suddenly seemed even more amused than he had been. “Huh, well, what do ya know? A guster be a dragon’s boss. Bet the bullies in Caz would pop a scale if they heard about this.”
“I have had several less than cordial encounters with the dragonkin of Cazmaloq. Will this be an issue for you, Captain Mauk?” the windy ranger asked. Hah’roo’s gaze had lifted to assess the sails, but Joe could tell she was carefully listening to the captain’s reply.
“Bah. Ain’t pinch off my tail,” the slight draconian mariner huffed, turning to walk at her side. “You think yer folk got it bad with the Dragon Army? The one folk they treat far worse than you wind-walkers are we, shameful cousins o’ theirs. Them high drakes see kobolds as the cat turds they have to put up with keep the mice in check. I’d be rootin’ for ye and yours, even if’n ye weren’t my stunningly gorgeous employer.”
“I appreciate the flattery and the sincerity, Ginjgaukk,” she countered, examining the knotted rigging. “How are you contracted? Are we to start the crew’s payment immediately?”
Joe had not even thought about that aspect of purchasing the ship. How much did a three-person crew typically cost?
“Not to worry. We’ve been paid to make the run to Defiance, deliverin’ some contracts for Master Barbarrow. After that, then we’d be expecting our wages from ye all. These two be lookin’ for half a gold a day. If’n ya want me, it’s a whole crown a day. If’n that be too much for ya, then we can disembark at Defiance, an ye can rehire yerselves a new crew there. How’s that?”
Joe did the math. A vessel such as this averaged around fifty miles a day. The first six days to the pirate city of Defiance were covered already—four days to Otter Slough and then five days to Wildroost. The trip back would be the whole fifteen days—roughly twenty-four days of travel costs. Joe added in three weeks for bad weather, dealing with the curse, and visiting Earcellwen’s family —all total that came to forty-five days and, therefore, ninety gold. The time the crew would be in Wildroost, they would technically be shore-leave, so the total might be even less. A hundred or so gold would be easy to cover, especially since they had agreed to split costs and treasures evenly.
“That seems fair,” Joe replied as his friends waited for him to figure out the numbers. “We’ll be here before dawn. How much can we take with us?” he added. Joe expected everything he was bringing would be in his dimensional ring, but it was good to know if they had any extra space allotted to him if needed.
“We’re all gonna be pretty snug in the Jab, so I wouldn’t recommend anything more than the sea chest crew’s typically allotted. Yer the bosses, so ye can bend that if’n ya wanna, but bring too much, and we’ll be rubbin’ up against each other like a tin of tacks. Yer gonna want some space between you and Bosko’s bum on bean nights.”
“Seriously, Boss!” Bosko carped. “How about we tell ‘em how sharp your scale sheds are? Cut my feet every damn morning.”
“Okay. TMI guys,” Joe announced habitually before recognizing it wouldn’t translate. “Never mind.” Turning to his friends. “That makes this our last day together in Fort Coral for a while. Let’s see how many friends we find and take over Rosaline’s Ring.”
“Now, that is a great plan,” Kenda agreed, squeezing his arm. “I’ll get the guildhouse.”
“I’ll grab Tez and Yuk from the Haven,” Joe declared.
“Earcellwen and I will track down the stragglers,” Hah’roo asserted, looking at the elf at her side. “Ready to go hunting?” she added enthusiastically.
“Sure am,” the archer replied. “You guys are welcome to join us,” she offered Ginjgaukk, Bosko, and Kkeemi. “Rosaline’s Ring in the tavern in the middle of Swift Water.”
Ginjgaukk looked at his crewmates; his grin was as wide as ever. “We know it well.”
“Sometimes too well,” Kkeemi grumbled. “But we’ll be there. New owners usually buy the first couple rounds,” the aresa added with a hopeful expression.
Bosko chuckled and received an elbow in the ribs for it. It was obvious the gunner was spinning that yarn out of thin air.
“Happy to,” Joe replied anyway. They were going to be spending a lot of time together over the next few weeks. If a few free drinks started them off on a good footing, it would be well worth a couple extra coins.
The four guilders headed off while the crew of the Jacky Jabaru finished loading. The boxes may not have been stowed quite as neatly as planned, but with a promise of a party at hand, they could batten everything down a bit tighter tomorrow.